UMH Properties Inc Stock Downgraded (UMH)

UMH Properties (NYSE:UMH) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from from a buy to hold.

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- UMH Properties (NYSE: UMH) has been downgraded by TheStreet Ratings from buy to hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and solid stock price performance. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including feeble growth in the company's earnings per share, deteriorating net income and disappointing return on equity.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

UMH's revenue growth trails the industry average of 17.2%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 5.7%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share.

Even though the current debt-to-equity ratio is 1.08, it is still below the industry average, suggesting that this level of debt is acceptable within the Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry.

The gross profit margin for UMH PROPERTIES INC is rather low; currently it is at 23.90%. It has decreased from the same quarter the previous year. Along with this, the net profit margin of 4.20% significantly trails the industry average.

Net operating cash flow has decreased to $2.84 million or 27.24% when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, when comparing the cash generation rate to the industry average, the firm's growth is significantly lower.

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UMH Properties, Inc. (UMH) is a real estate investment trust. The firm engages in the ownership and operation of manufactured home communities. It leases manufactured home spaces to private manufactured home owners, as well as leases homes to residents. The company has a P/E ratio of 41, above the average real estate industry P/E ratio of 29.8 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. UMH has a market cap of $146.5 million and is part of the financial sector and real estate industry. Shares are up 15.3% year to date as of the close of trading on Tuesday.